Historically, Lunenburg's economy relied on the offshore fishery, and today it hosts Canada's largest secondary fish-processing plant.

UNESCO considers the site the best example of planned British colonial settlement in North America, as it retains its original layout and appearance of the 1800s, including local wooden vernacular architecture.

UNESCO considers the town in need of protection because the future of its traditional economic underpinnings, the Atlantic fishery, is now very uncertain.

When Edward Cornwallis, newly appointed Governor of Nova Scotia, visited in 1749, he reported several Mi’kmaq and Acadian families living together at Mirliguèche in comfortable houses and said they "appeared to be doing well.

Under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France ceded the part of Acadia today known as peninsular Nova Scotia to Britain.

[9] The British sought to settle the lands with loyal subjects, and recruited more than 1,400 Foreign Protestants, mostly artisans and farmers, from Europe in July 1753 to populate the site.

[25] Today a large hammered copper cod weather vane is mounted on the spire of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

After the end of World War II, shipbuilders switched from producing schooners to trawlers, aided by migrant labour from Newfoundland.

[26] Lunenburg is in a natural harbour at the western side of Mahone Bay, about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Downtown Halifax.

Glaciers abraded and plucked at the bedrock during their advances across the country, creating various deposits that vary in thickness, including drumlins, which are a key feature of Lunenburg County.

[27] The coastline in the area is heavily indented, and the town is on an isthmus on the Fairhaven Peninsula, with harbours on both the front and back sides.

On the whole, Lunenburg precipitation is high from November to May, with July, August and September enjoying the warmest and driest conditions.

Jan: 1° Feb: 2° Mar: 5° Apr: 11° May: 15° Jun: 21° Jul: 23° Aug: 24° Sep: 21° Oct: 15° Nov: 9° Dec: 4° The original planned town was built on a steep south-facing hillside.

Shipbuilding infrastructure worth $1.5 million was added to the Lunenburg waterfront as part of the Bluenose II restoration project, which started in 2010.

The shipyard ABCO Industries was founded in 1947 on the site of the World War II Norwegian military training facility Camp Norway, and now builds welded aluminum vessels.

It offers a dry dock, manufacturing and machining, a carpentry shop, and a foundry capable of pouring 272 kg castings.

By the North American Industry Classification System, about half of all jobs were in health care and social assistance, accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and retail.

[39] The dramatic and climactic wedding scenes of the award winning Canadian movie Cloudburst starring Olympia Dukakis were filmed in Lunenburg.

[42] Further, the supernatural drama television show Haven was partly filmed there throughout its 5 season run, though the story is set in the U.S. State of Maine.